Although our family has travelled to many places, I don’t
remember the last time I blogged about our travels. Yes, I post lots of pictures on facebook, but
I’m usually too lazy to recall the details of our trips once we are back. I just come back knowing we had some great
family time and saw some cool new things.
However, our trip to Cambodia was different.
We did so much and yet it never felt stressful, the kids
never complained, and everything was just easy and magical and wonderful. I learned about Cambodia. I got to see a small glimpse of real life
there, which gave me a lot to think about.
Of course, we were tourists and we did lots of tourist things, and
enjoyed every minute of it! A few of you
have asked me about our itinerary and how we structured our time, so that’s
what I’ll give you in this post.
What this post is not is a history lesson or a travel essay---it’s just what our family did and some practical ideas if you are planning a trip there. There is a lot I could share about what we learned, but that’s not what this particular post is about. Please let me know if you have any questions. We loved our time there!
Saturday, Travel Day:
We arrived on Saturday night and someone from our hotel
picked us up at the airport. When we arrived
at the airport, we needed to get a visa for Cambodia, which was 20 USD, and was
fairly easy to get.
We told the manager, Ham, what our plans were for the next
few days and he helped us arrange a van and an English-speaking guide. We were completely aware that we could have
accomplished the same thing with a Tuk Tuk and finding a guide on our own, but
we were happy to pay a bit more for convenience and someone to save us the
hassle (not that there would be a big one there) of figuring things out on our
own. We knew where we wanted to go and
we wanted an air-conditioned van to take us there, and a knowledgeable guide to
accompany us and tell us the history and other tips. We loved the driver, Jeng Lan, and the guide, Won, the hotel
hooked us up with. The charge depended on how
far we went, how many hours, etc.
Sunday: First Full Day
So, on Sunday we had breakfast at 6:30 at the hotel and left
at about 7. We entered Angkor Wat from
the back and it seemed we were the only people there. This was one of my favorite times of temple
exploring. Magical is a word that sort
of can’t be overused when you are visiting these places, and that is how this
felt. I think we spent at least a couple
of hours there, and even the kids were interested in the guide’s descriptions
of the carvings and the history. Our
kids asked him lots of questions and in true inquiry fashion, shared their
wonderings with us. It was truly
wonderful, all of us learning and exploring together.
We took a tuk-tuk to lunch (always 2 USD) and very easy to
get at our hotel. Lunch was at The Blue
Pumpkin, recommended by friends who said they ate most of their meals
there. They have comfy couches where you
sit with trays and of course the kids loved it . The food was great, smoothies
were amazing, and service was good.
We then headed to Ta Prohm. This is the one where part of
Tomb Raider was filmed. It has all the
over-grown trees and lush green everywhere.
This is the one described by many as “other wordly” and yes, that’s
exactly how it feels. None of it seemed
real---I didn’t want to leave. The kids
just explored endlessly---everything was fascinating to them. We spent at least an hour or two here and
then it started pouring! We enjoyed a
nice jog in the mud and then headed back to the hotel to clean up!
We rested a bit and went for a swim at our hotel. Later that night, we again took a tuk tuk to
the downtown area, just 5 minutes away, and we all did the crazy
fish-nibbing-on-your-feet massage. It
was really fun (and creepy), and two of our kids ended up doing it 2 or 3 more
times during our trip!
We then had dinner at the Mexican place on the corner (this
place and Blue Pumpkin were our go-to places the whole trip). Loved the food here! Amazing food, again---great smoothies and
shakes, awesome chips and salsa, incredible service. We just loved it, so we kept going back.
We then did a family foot massage and headed back to the
hotel.
Monday, Second Full Day:
We got up at 5 and left the hotel by 5:30, arriving at Happy
Horse Ranch before 6. We did a sunrise
ride, each of us on our own horse, for one hour. There were incredible views, and this was
just a serene and unique experience.
There was a guide leading us and I asked for 3 helpers to come along
since the kids are not experienced (not that William and I are super
experienced either), and I wanted helpers there just in case the kids couldn’t
handle the horses. It was easy and fun,
and the kids loved it. My younger two
(the same ones who kept going back for the fish massage) even had the horse
trot and they were fine with that. I
enjoyed that too, but Abraham and William preferred to just walk, which was
great too. This was straight-forward,
easy, and very well-organized. The price
was 28 USD per person. We, of course,
tipped the guide and the helpers, which we were very happy to do. This was
another wonderful experience.
We came back to the hotel and had breakfast and then had a
very lazy day. We read and the kids
played. William and I took turns going
downstairs for oil massages right in the hotel.
We napped and just hung out, which is what you’re supposed to do on
vacation, right? Then, at night, we swam
and went out to eat at either the Mexican Place or the Blue Pumpkin.
Tuesday, Third Full Day:
We left around eight.
We headed to the floating villages, per Annabelle’s suggestion. She
really wanted to do this and it ended up being very cool. First we drove to the place where all the
boats are. We got on a boat, and rode
for almost an hour though a flooded area, which eventually fed into a
lake. This was an old, sort of rickety
boat, with an 11-year old driving it. He
was Alex’s size, maybe a tiny bit taller.
It was a silent ride and we were all lost in our thoughts.
Cambodia is a poor country and the little guy driving our
boat was a reminder of that. Our guide
had talked to us a lot about the country’s history and economic situation and I
think we all had a lot to think about, even though it was only the second day
in the country. The scenery was also just so beautiful that there was really no
need to talk. We rode through, seeing houses
on stilts and people going about their lives.
Again, we just felt like we were learning and seeing a whole other way
of life.
We then transferred to a little canoe (2 actually) and rode
through what I can only call the jungle.
Our kids enjoyed sharing some cookies and candies with the local kids
who rode up to us in their boats. Once
we entered the jungle though, there were no other boats. A couple of times we thought we were lost
(there was a young girl leading Abraham and I and I think it was her mom
leading Will and the other two kids). It
was cool and peaceful, yet surreal.
After this, we had to go back the 45 minutes in the original
boat and by this time we were all hot and tired. We went with our driver and guide to a Khmer
restaurant situated outside, with hammocks to rest in while we waited for our
food. The food and service again, were
great.
From here we drove out to Beng Melea, the “Indiana Jones and
the Temple of Doom” place, for lack of a better description. This is the one that has not been restored
and is literally in ruins. It’s about an
hour outside of Siem Reap. Much of it
was shaded so although it was hot, this was also very worthwhile.
That night, we did another foot massage, walked around the
downtown area and ate at one our favorites.
Tuk Tuks are everywhere and it is incredibly easy to do things.
After dinner we went to the Circus, which is really not a
great name for what we experienced. It
is an incredible, I mean, INCREDIBLE dance and acrobatic drama, all done in a
small little “circus tent” but the performers were so incredibly talented. It was an amazing show and all the proceeds
go to building this charitable program to help promote the arts in Cambodia and
give young people a chance out of poverty.
They were incredible! This was a very tiring day and we all slept very well that
night!
Wednesday, Fourth Full Day:
We slept in a bit and got started around 9, heading to Bayon
Temple. This is the one with all the
faces and my kids loved this. I found by
the time we got to this temple, we had learned so much about Buddhism,
Hinduism, the history, the kings, and the structure of the temples----time had gone
very quickly and we had been exposed to a lot, even though this would make only
the fourth temple site that we visited.
After this we went to the Silk Village and learned about
silk-making, the process from the worms-cocoons-getting the silk, dying the
silk, weaving the silk----I still could not get my head around this
process. Absolutely amazing and our
older two kids enjoyed this. Alex was a
bit bored at this point, but he hung in there.
We bought a few beautiful items in their gift shop and then headed to
lunch.
Our lunch was at a very cool Khmer restaurant. Annabelle and I kept ordering fried spring
rolls everywhere we went and then comparing them as if we are Master Chef
critics. That’s just a random note---the spring rolls everywhere were
great. This place had a nice ambiance
and we loved the flavors of the food.
We had the chance to go on another tour of how silk
paintings or wood carvings are done, but at this point, we were really tired
and I knew the kids would not last through another tour, so we spent about 30
minutes picking up a couple of souvenirs and called it good.
The evening included walking around, enjoying ice cream at
the Blue Pumpkin and beginning to pack and organize.
Thursday: Travel Day
After breakfast, the kids and I swam and William headed to a
massage class, which he loved. He was trained
in the art of Cambodian massage (well, as much training as you can receive in 2
hours). I’m very much looking forward to
him showing me what he learned! The kids
and I ordered smoothies by the pool and had a great time.
Lunch was at our lovely little Mexican place, followed by
one last family foot massage. Annabelle
and Alex also did one last fish massage.
Then we were off.
Our time in Cambodia was wonderful. It’s always good to get away somewhere new
with the people we love most so nothing can top that. But doing it in such a beautiful and
interesting place was truly magical.
We’ve done trips where we barely leave the resort and others that are
more active. This was quite active in
some ways and yet wonderfully peaceful and relaxing. We loved Cambodia and we will definitely go
back.
I hope this information is helpful to anyone who wanted to
know about our trip or who is interested in going there. I can tell you that we loved it and we
highly recommend it!
